Dhoni is the best captain in limited-overs format: Kapil

Mahendra Singh Dhoni might have come under heavy criticism for his captaincy during the just-concluded home Test series against England but former skipper Kapil Dev today backed him as the best bet to lead India in limited-overs cricket.

“You can say whatever you want about Dhoni’s captaincy in Tests. But in T20 and ODIs there is no better skipper than him. He won the World Cup last year and you cannot change him just because he’s had bad time after that,” Kapil said. "For me, he remains the best captain and player right now,” he added.

Another former captain Mohd. Azharuddin, however, suggested that Dhoni should not captain India in all formats. “He (Dhoni) seems a great captain when the team is doing well. But, when the team is losing, he looks confused and runs out of ideas. The Selectors and the board need to take a call soon. I have always believed that we should have different captains for different formats,” he said.

“In my view, Dhoni’s batting form has dipped after he took over captaincy,” Azharuddin said during a panel discussion on ‘Aaj Tak’ ahead of the India-Pakistan limited-overs series.

Pakistan's world cup winning captain Imran Khan said India would start favourites but Pakistan could not be taken lightly. “Right now, before the start of the series, India seems a much better team. But in the battleground, when cricket starts, everything becomes neutral due to the tremendous pressure involved,” Imran said.

For Sourav Ganguly, who led India to the 2003 World Cup final after beating Pakistan in an epic contest at Centurion, there would be no stopping Team India in the two T20 internationals and three ODIs.

“India has dominated Pakistan over the last 10 years and they have dominated them mentally. The young Indian team has handled pressure better than Pakistan, be it in the World Cup last year or in any other tournament,” said Ganguly.

All said Dhoni makes judgemental mistakes. In t20 format where strike rate of batsman is paramount, Sehwag should have been first choice to be picked up as opening batsman. Sehwag’s exclusion can not be explained